Supreme Court Asks State Of UP To Inform Details Uploaded In NIC's E-Module On Prisoners' Data

Recently (on March 01), the Supreme Court directed the State of Uttar Pradesh to inform about the details uploaded on the e-module framed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

Pertinently, in this e-module, each State was required to upload the necessary information including status of the convict, the number of years he has put in and such other details. Moreover, as per the Supreme Court's directions, all States were required to adopt this e-module.

The Division Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra passed this direction while hearing an appeal seeking to quash the remission policy brought in by the State of UP in the year 2021. As per this policy, the remission benefit could be extended only to convicts above the age of sixty years. It was pleaded that the same is arbitrary and illegal.

However, taking note of its decision in Rashidul Jagar @ Chota vs. State of UttarPradesh 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 754, the Court did not delve into this issue of quashing. In this case, the Court had observed:

“The restriction that a life convict is not eligible for premature release until attaining the age of sixty years, which was introduced by the policy of 28 July 2021, stands deleted by the amendment dated 27 May 2022. Hence, no case for premature release shall be rejected on that ground.”

Notwithstanding, during the hearing, an advocate, appearing for the National Legal Services Authority, pointed out the directions passed regarding e-module. The counsel further pointed out that all the States have started complying with the directions; however, the last status is unknown. In view of this, the Apex Court directed the State to file an affidavit furnishing the details uploaded on the e-module. 

“In such circumstances, we direct the State of Uttar Pradesh to file an affidavit furnishing the details they have uploaded so far on the e-module as prepared by the NIC.,” the Court stated in its order. 

The prescribed timeline for filing this affidavit is two weeks, and the matter will be posted after four weeks. 

Case Details : Rajkumar and others v State of UP

Click here to read the order